FanPost

My Parting Gift to Chris Cohan

  • Before we get started I want to say that this is not about the people that run fan sites. AT ALL.

Long before the "Flunkster Dude" incident happened I had wondered about the pervasiveness of Warriors employees (or those contracted by the Warriors) in social media and discourse communities. There's the obvious connection to Fitz being on the radio, but Fitz sucks and I don't want to talk about Fitz. Fitz is just the visible tip of the iceberg.

I'm talking about having paid employees (unpaid if intern... lol), whether they work with the team or a separate PR firm, anonymously representing the team in forums or in the comment sections of blogs. The only purpose of which is to improve the public image of the team, and thereby sell tickets. Of course, it's a business.

Then I wonder how many times they either lied to or misdirected the print and TV media (by complicit nature or otherwise). Everything from reporting injuries to the "Good-ole-boy" routine the Warriors did with Jack to claiming they didn't know they were trading for damaged goods. The list goes on and on, from "saving money to resign morrow" to blowing the cover on the Memphis trade and lying about it too.

Now recall Flunkster dude. Some have said that the incident was planned damage control to keep other sites or reporters from really breaking it open. That may or may not be the case, but for the purpose of this discussion it is irrelevant. Regardless, it is case in point that we know the Warriors are willing to represent themselves anonymously on the forums. We can also assume that the Warriors never stopped since well, they never said they would.


If the Warriors are lying in the public sphere that is fine. Everyone can judge for themselves. Their obvious manipulation of injuries for insurance or tank purposes is a good example. Same with the team's feelings/future intentions with past and present players. These are things every team lies about.

However, if the Warriors' interests are also anonymously represented (either primarily or via proxy) to defend these deceptions in fan forums then that constitutes a clear conflict of interest/representation from which the consumer has no protection. The same applies when talking about the value of the team. If the PR appendages are anonymously saying that the team is worth more than it is or if they try to smear the value of potential buyers the same applies. We'll call this the artificial inflation of the team's public image.

It's called wire fraud.

In order to commit wire fraud one must (Thanks Wikipedia):

1. devise, or intend to devise, a scheme or artifice to defraud another person on the basis of a material representation,

There's our artificial inflation of the team's public image.

2. do it with the intent to defraud

Better public image (with fraudulent foundation) = more ticket sales.

3. do it through the use of interstate wire facilities


Forums, comments sections, fan sites. The interwebs.

So as my parting gift to you Mr. Cohan I suggest that all your employees or hired PR appendages with knowledge of this practice make the necessary provisions and preparations prior to the sale. I also hope that someone with the time and resources sues you for Wire Fraud. Preferably a season ticket holder. That's what you get for raping the communities that would support you regardless. Anyways, it's been great, and I look forward to a Warriors future without you. Have a nice day.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!